The Three Bear Caves: Robots of Sherwood and Sherlock's Hounds of Baskerville

Following on from our date night in the restaurant from the Doctor Who episode 'Listen', we got up early and headed off to our first stop of the day - Castell Coch in Tongwynlais. We've been here before as it was the location used for Hedgewick's World in Series 7 Nightmare in Silver, you can find the link here; its one of my favourite locations to visit. However, this time we weren't here to see the Medieval castle in all its glory, oh no, we were instead heading north to follow the Forest Fawr country park trail.

A few wrong turns and a couple of disagreements later about Luke not being able to follow a simple map, I was eventually proved wrong when we spotted the carved statue of a bear and its cub guarding the entrance to one of my most-wanted-to-visit Doctor Who locations ever: The Three Bear Caves.

I would love to tell you how I got there, but seeing as we seemed to be walking for over an hour to find it, the Doctor Who Locations website has better instructions than I would be able to draw up. I am continually amazed how the locations experts scout these little nuggets out for film.

The caves have featured in numerous television productions, most notably to me is the Doctor Who series 8 episode Robots of Sherwood, BBC Sherlock series 2 episode The Hounds of Baskerville and SkyOne's Stella. I love spotting these familiar locations throughout all my favourite TV shows!

I decided against heading down towards the caves as the ground was very unsteady and damp; After all, I didn't want a bear to come out and grab me if I was to trip and fall. Instead, I took some pretty cool pictures from above, and sent Luke down for a closer look. I do wonder how all of the actors and film crew manage to clamber all of their equipment down to areas like this, when I can't even manage it in my sturdy military boots!

 Doctor Who: Robots of Sherwood (SERIES 9)

Sherlock: The Hounds of Baskerville (Series 2) 

Luke peered in the caves but it was too dark to see anything, unfortunately I didn't send him in against his will, so he just took some close-up photos for me. The flat area leading to the caves was much smaller than it appeared on camera, to my surprise, I wonder how they managed to get all the Doctor Who actors in shot successfully, along with all the props!

You can view more of the caves in this short video I produced from my weekend:

All in all, it was an excellent location to visit, and I would recommend anyone to go and explore. It is quite simply a hidden gem of Wales, and I feel so lucky that this hobby allows me to find all these weird and wonderful places. It's a free day out, dogs are allowed in the forest but remember to wear suitable shoes. I am sure this location will be used again in the future as it is so secluded and mystical. Look out for the Doctor Who crew there in the future! Plus, you could always explore Castell Coch at an extra small cost whilst you are on your travels. Let me know if you head there!

Oooh, we also visited the Doctor Who Experience shop where I treated myself to a new mug and t-shirt (see below). We also spotted a new edition to the props: Santa's Sleigh from the 2014 Christmas special Last Christmas.

Next, we took a bit of a detour on the way home, as we re-visited an old favourite Doctor Who location of mine, Skenfrith Castle. Read more about it soon.

Blog to you soon

★

Castell Coch - Nightmare In Silver, The Vampires of Venice and Journey's End

 A few weeks ago off I went to Cardiff for some holiday shopping. I had been wanting to head back down to the Welsh capital for a few months in order to visit a recent Doctor Who location which I pass on the way, used in the Series 7 episode Nightmare In Silver. The location was Castell Coch, and I had spotted it from the road in the past and often wondered whether it had been used in the series. After searching the internet and using http://www.doctorwholocations.net/locations/castellcoch I discovered it had been used in Journey's End and The Vampires of Venice, but because of its little use within these episodes, it hadn't really been sufficient enough to be used as an excuse to head there up until this point.

 Luckily, the Series 7 Part 2 episode Nightmare in Silver delivered the perfect excuse, and the boyfriend begrudgingly agreed to head there alongside me. The castle was easy to find, even with my poor driving/navigating skills. The sat-nav postcode we used was CF15 7JS, but once near the site you can just follow the brown signs. The castle is located at the top of a steep road, parking is free but the entry fee is £4.50 (Adult), £3.50 (Student, Senior Citizens & Children) and £13.50 (Family). More details on the castle can be found here: http://cadw.wales.gov.uk/daysout/castell-coch/?lang=en 

Make sure you have a camera to hand as the castle is very picturesque, I can see why it has been used for television purposes. Anyway, in this instance the castle doubles up as Natty Longshoe's Comical Castle, an attraction within Hedgewick's World of Wonders, the biggest and best amusement park ever, where Clara uses her resources and troops in defence against the Cybermen. All the shots seen from outside the castle and within the courtyard are from Castell Coch, but from previous experience, the shots of The Doctor playing chess are from Caerphilly Castle, which I visited HERE. Be aware that this post is picture - heavy. All screen shots are sourced from the BBC.

 By reading this, I'm guessing you have either a) managed to go through all of the photos, or b) scrolled straight through them without a second glance. Either way, thanks for stopping here for a quick breather as I can now tell you that the following interior shots were from the same episode, Nightmare in Silver, but the scenes were actually filmed at a separate location, a few miles down the road at Caerphilly Castle, where I visited last year. 

 Back to Castell Coch, as previously mentioned, the Series 5 episode entitled The Vampires of Venice also used the area as a backdrop for the scene during which Rory and The Doctor are searching to find Amy. However, they soon find themselves surrounded by the mysterious vampire creatures.

 And finally, the following interior shots from Castell Coch are recognisable in the Series 4 two-parter finale entitled Journey's End, when Martha Jones flees to a castle in Germany to enter a secret UNIT bunker. 

And here's the next time trailer for Nightmare in Silver to remind you of the plot - 

Well done for trawling through to the end of this post, I understand it was VERY photo-heavy, but I thought the castle scenery was too picturesque to miss out on. I should also point out that because of its location high upon a hill, if you peer through the right castle window on a sunny, clear day, there are views right across Cardiff to the city centre. It really is a fairy tale castle, I'd love to get married in a location like this one day!

 All in all I really recommend giving Castell Coch a visit. It's not off the beaten track and about 10-15 minutes from Cardiff's city centre. It's easy to navigate to and relatively cheap to enter. There is also a cafe located inside the castle walls, where you can grab a cuppa and a bite to eat if you're feeling peckish. Everyone was very friendly and even though we visited during midday, the castle was virtually empty so we could really take in our surroundings. 

Since I last wrote I have completed my few days at my local BBC station, been awarded a 2:1 classification in my degree and I managed to finally get my hands on two tickets to the Doctor Who Proms, so I'm pretty darn happy right now :-)

 As always, thanks for reading. Any queries go to my Contact page or drop me a line via Twitter @PluckyKelly

Thanks! 

✰